Hey guys and girls! This is the sequel to Samantha Tyler: 084, the second instalment in Samantha and the Doctor's journey. The chapter has been reposted due to me having second thoughts on the twist in the previous version.
"You can't still be looking at those weird symbols", Jackie remarked as she passed by the kitchen table, box of Christmas decorations in her arms.
"I've got to", Samantha said looking up from her tablet "Coulson wants me to identify them".
"Well, couldn't you take a break or something sweetheart?" Jackie suggested "you could help me decorate tree".
Samantha sat back in her chair "whats the point mum?" she asked "we're missing one member. Again". It was hard the first time around to have Christmas without Rose but at least Skye was there. However, Skye was busy at the base so she couldn't make it. That just left Samantha and Jackie.
"She might come home this year", Jackie said trying to stay optimistic "Christmas is a time for miracles after all".
Samantha looked down at her tablet and then back up to her adoptive mother. "You're right, Christmas IS a time for miracles", she agreed. She stood up from the table, moved around it and took the box from Jackie. She then proceeded to head towards the living room, her adopted mother following her.
Samantha put the box down and then the pair proceeded to decorate the white plastic Christmas tree. "I'm going to get the presents", Jackie said when they'd almost finished. Samantha nodded and picked up a red bauble from the box. She was putting it on a branch of the tree when she paused, hearing a very faint but familiar noise. Samantha turned and darted out of the room.
"Sam did you hear…?" Jackie said running out of her room.
"Yeah, I did", Samantha cut in "looks like you're about to get that Christmas miracle".
They ran out of the flat, hurtled down the steps and into the courtyard. Not long after they arrived, Mickey came onto the scene. "Jackie, Sam! it's the TARDIS!" he shouted.
"We know!" Samantha snapped looking around the blue box "where the heck is it?"
Suddenly the TARDIS appeared out of thin air, 20 feet above their heads. Mickey ducked down while Samantha pulled Jackie to the floor, shielding her as the box crashed against the buildings until it came down, skidding into a Post Office van and knocking a few dustbins out of the way.
Mickey, Samantha and Jackie got to their feet and watched the TARDIS get thrown open and an unfamiliar man peered out "Here we are then! London! Earth! The Solar System! We did it!" he cheered.
He stumbled out of the TARDIS and gaped up at the flats, not seeming the notice the trio that was staring at him. Samantha noted how his clothes were identical to the Doctor's, right down to the leather jacket. Suddenly the man noticed herself, Jackie and Mickey.
"Jackie! Mickey!" his eyes went to Samantha and his face just lit up "Sammy!"
The man started towards her but stopped when she put a hand up "first off who the hell are you? and secondly how on Earth do you know our names?" Samantha demanded.
"Sam, its me. The Doctor", the man said.
"Nice try. You look nothing like him", Samantha said.
"No, it really is me", the Doctor insisted "and I can prove it. We first met in that shop cellar. I took your hand and I said one word…just one word…'run'".
Samantha slowly lowered her hand. There was no way he could've known that. She never told anyone what the Doctor had said to her. It really was him….and he'd regenerated. "Doctor", she breathed.
"Hello", the Doctor said.
"How…how did this happen?" Samantha asked trying to hold back the tears. The Doctor had briefly mentioned regeneration to her but she never expected that when she eventually reunited with him, that she'd be meeting a completely different person.
"Well I…" the Doctor took a step back suddenly feeling a bit dizzy "I…" Samantha darted forward to grab him before he faceplanted the pavement.
"A little help please?" she asked straining under the Time Lords weight. Mickey moved over to her and helped her lower the Doctor to the ground.
Rose came out of the TARDIS and saw the unconscious Doctor. "What happened? Is he alright?" she asked joining them.
"I don't know", Samantha answered honestly. The Doctor never went into detail about the process so it was possible that passing out was completely normal.
~Tyler Flat~
The Doctor was now tucked up in bed, now dressed in striped pyjamas. Samantha sat on the edge of the bed while Rose and Mickey hung back. Jackie hurrying into the room holding a stethoscope "Here we go" she handed it over to Samantha "Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, a medical student, and she was fast asleep, so I just took it", Jackie explained "Though I still say we should take him to hospital".
"We can't. They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race", Rose told her mother as Samantha put the stethoscope in her ears. Jackie opened her mouth to say something and Rose just shushed her. They watched as she placed the stethoscope either side of the Time Lord's chest.
Samantha was relieved to hear that both hearts were beating steadily. "Both are working", she said taking the stethoscope out of her ears.
"What do you mean, 'both'?" Jackie questioned, a look of confusion on her face.
"He's got 2 hearts", Samantha replied.
"Oh, don't be stupid", Jackie said clearly not believing her. Samantha just gave her a look telling her that she wasn't joking. "Anything else he's got two of?" Jackie questioned.
"Leave him alone", Rose said and with that she left the room. Jackie and Samantha followed after her, the latter casting a glance at the Time Lord who was laying in her own bed.
~kitchen~
"How can he go changing his face?" Jackie asked as Rose started to put the kettle on for a cup of tea. A good cuppa is what she needed after what she'd seen. "Is that a different face or is he a different person?"
"It's called regeneration", Samantha said quietly "it's a process he does when he…" she trailed off not wanting to finish that sentence. She cleared her throat, blinking the tears away. She was not going to cry. She was going to keep it together. "All you need to know is that he's the Doctor, despite his new look", she added.
The kettle whistled, cutting through the silence that had fallen over the room. Rose went over to it and poured water into three cups. "What I'd like to know is, where'd you get a pair of men's pyjamas from?" she asked quickly changing the subject. However upsetting the Doctor's change was for her, she knew that it was going to be worse for Samantha given that she was in a relationship with Time Lord.
"Howard's been staying over", Jackie replied.
Rose raised her eyebrows at her mother incredulously "What, Howard from the market? How long's that been going on?" she questioned dunking teabags into the mugs.
"A month or so", Jackie answered "First of all, he starts delivering to the door and I thought, that's a odd. Next thing you know, it's a bag of oranges and then a date". Rose moved over to the fridge and took out the milk. She turned and caught notice of the TV through the hatchway.
"Is that Harriet Jones?" she asked. Rose set the milk down and went into the living room "Why's she on the telly?"
"She's Prime Minister now", Samantha answered leaning against the doorway.
"And I'm eighteen quid a week better off. They're calling it Britain's Golden Age", Jackie added from where she now stood next to the brunette "I keep on saying my girls have met her".
"We did more than that. Stopped World War Three with her", Rose glanced at her sister and grinned. Samantha gave her a small smile in return but it wasn't completely genuine. That adventure was with the previous Doctor whom she was never going to see again. At least not in person. She had a couple of photos but it would never be the same as actually having him around.
Seeing that her sister was looking so down, Rose suggested that they get some air. She also got Mickey to come with them.
~street~
"So what do you need? Twenty quid?" Mickey asked holding the money to Rose.
"Do you mind? I'll pay you back", Rose said taking the note.
"Call it a Christmas present", Mickey said with a laugh.
Rose looked around as they walked, taking in all the Christmas shoppers. "God, I'm all out of synch", she remarked "You just forget about Christmas and things in the TARDIS. They don't exist. You get…sort of timeless".
"Tell me about it", Samantha agreed.
"Oh, yeah, that's fascinating, cos I love hearing stories about the TARDIS", Mickey said with mock sarcasm "Oh, go on, tell us another one because I swear I could listen to it all day. TARDIS this, TARDIS that".
"Shut up!" Rose said but she was smiling.
"Oh! One time the TARDIS landed in a biiig yellow garden full of balloons", Mickey continued.
"I'm not like that!" Rose insisted.
"Sammy here is worse. She wouldn't stop regaling me with stories of her time with SHIELD, especially when Fitz tried to pull pranks on the others", Mickey said.
"Hey! You enjoyed hearing those stories!" Samantha said pointing at him.
"I'd love to hear that one", Rose said linking her arm with her sister's.
"Well, it all started when…." By the time she finished her story, Rose and Mickey were roaring with laughter.
"I can't believe May did that", Rose giggled "she always seemed so serious".
"It surprised us too. Guess you never know if someone you work with has a different side", Samantha said. She then stopped realising that what she just said applied to Ward as well. Ward…her fist clenched. She still wasn't over his betrayal. To be honest she don't think she ever would be.
"Sam what's wrong?" Rose asked seeing the change in the brunette.
"Nothing", Samantha said quickly "lets go see if we can't find something ideal for mum. I've been so busy that I didn't have time". She took Rose's arm and they walked off, Mickey close behind.
Samantha flittered from stall to stall trying to find something for Jackie. Mickey and Rose were doing the same. The brunette picked up a small shiny ornament, held it up, turning it this way and that as if to inspect it. In truth she was using it like a mirror to check behind her without looking around. Yep they were following us she thought eyeing the three masked Santas carrying brass band instruments. She'd noticed them a little ways back but she wasn't sure if they were following… until now.
Samantha put down the ornament an calmly walked away. One of the Santas broke from the group to go after her. The brunette slipped around the corner and waited. Like she did before at that abandoned town, she waited for the shadow of her pursuer to get close enough. When it did, she acted but instead of throwing a punch, Samantha grabbed the Santa and shoved him against the wall.
The Santa pushed her back with a surprising amount of force. Samantha fell to the floor surprised but quickly rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding being barbequed by a trombone of all things. She jumped to her feet, dodged another firey blast before she retaliated with a hit of Time Vortex.
The Santa was thrown back against the wall, jerking and sparking. Samantha carefully went up to it and yanked off its mask. "You've got to be kidding me. A bloody robot", Samantha said dropping the mask and taking a step back "I hate robots".
Suddenly she heard people screaming and took off back towards the market. The other two Santa robots were torching the place! "Sam over here!" Rose shouted. She looked over to see her and Mickey hiding behind a stall. She ran over to them.
"Why are these things attacking us?" Mickey asked flinching when the flames were turned onto the stall they were hiding behind.
"Getting out of here is more important", Samantha told him. She peered around the stall, quickly ducking back to avoid getting burnt. "Ok, we need to make run for it…" she peered around again and then pulled back "Now!" The trio darted out from behind the stall and ran down the street.
"Taxi!" Rose shouted as one pulled up and the 3 of them clambered in.
"So why the heck are those things after us?" Mickey demanded as they settled into their seats.
"They must be after the Doctor", Samantha answered. Nothing else made sense. There would be no reason for a bunch of robots to attack them unless they were after the Time Lord. "Better call mum and warn her".
Rose nodded at took out her phone and dialled Jackie. Rose listened for a couple of minutes before she said, exasperatedly "Get off the phone!"
"Who were…those Santa things?" Mickey asked.
"They're robots", Samantha answered.
"You serious? Robots?" Rose questioned.
"Yep, just the like Repeated Meme", Samantha said and Rose made a face "yeah, that's exactly how I felt".
The moment the taxi pulled up outside the Powell Estate, the trio jump out and race towards the Tyler flat. "Get off the phone!" Rose shouted as she burst into her flat seeing her mother chatting away on the phone.
"It's only Bev! She says hello"
Rose grabbed the phone "Bev? Yeah. Look, it'll have to wait". She hangs it up and looks at Mickey Jackie and Samantha. "Right, it's not safe. We've got to get out. Where can we go?"
"My mate Stan, he'll put us up", Mickey offered.
"That's only two streets away" Rose turned to her mother.
"There's a SHIELD safehouse about 20 minutes away by car", Samantha offered.
"We'll go there", Rose said.
"No, it's Christmas Eve! We're not going anywhere! What're you babbling about?" Jackie asked thoroughly confused as to why Rose wanted to leave the flat on Christmas Eve.
Samantha then noticed the tree in the corner of the room. It wasn't the white tree they had earlier, it was green "Mum….where'd you get that tree?" she asked.
"I thought you got it", Jackie answered.
"Why would I get another tree when we were using our white one?" Samantha questioned.
"I dunno! There was a ring at the door, and there it was!" Jackie answered.
"And you just decided to bring it inside?!" Samantha exclaimed "not a good move mum, what if its dangerous?"
"Don't be daft Sammy", Jackie said waving off her worry "It's just a tree. How could it be dangerous?"
The moment she said that, the tree lit up by itself. The sections of the tree started to spin, slowly at first before quickly speeding up. "You were saying?" Samantha asked Jackie while the tree span around like some coniferous Tasmanian Devil. "All of you my room, now!" Samantha ordered as the tree decimated the coffee table.
They all ran to her room and piled inside "Sam, what are you doing?" Rose asked when the brunette stopped in the doorway.
"Saving you", Samantha said pulling the door shut. Rose tried to go for the door when Mickey stopped her.
"We have to help her!" Rose exclaimed.
"We'd only get in the way, Sam knows what she's doing", Mickey said.
Out in the hall, Samantha stood watching the spinning tree get closer. "You shall not pass evil tree", she muttered and with that she threw her hands up, time vortex emanating from them. The Christmas tree exploded, knocking her back. Samantha rolled over to avoid the flying splinters of wood and the confetti of leaves.
Then her bedroom door flung open and a now awake Doctor rushed out. "Sam!" he exclaimed seeing her on the floor, destroyed Christmas tree littered on and around her.
"I'm ok", Samantha said sitting up. The Doctor held out his hands and she took them. He pulled her to her feet. "Lucky I had the time vortex, eh?" she remarked.
"Yeah…lucky", the Doctor muttered in agreement, his hearts only starting to get back to their normal rhythm. They'd been beating like crazy since he'd woken up, having heard the commotion.
"I hope this is a lesson to you mum", Samantha said, looking over at her mother who'd come out of the room as did Rose and Mickey "never take in anything that's been left on your doorstep unless you ordered it".